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Articoli sull'obesità

Overweight and obesity in children and adolescents: relationship with blood pressure, and physical activity.

Objective: Using body mass index (BMI) quartiles, the present study's aims were (1) to describe and evaluate the relationship between overweight/obesity with cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors, such as systolic blood pressure (SBP), diastolic diastolic blood pressure (DBP) and physical activity; (2) to provide information on the previences of high blood pressure and physical activity according to BMI quartiles; and (3) to examine the relationship of risk of obesityto adverse levels of high blood pressure and physical activity. Methods: the sample consisted of 1439 children (758 males and 681 female), 8-16 years old. Participants were classified as being at "risk of obesity"according to age -and sex- adjusted fourth quartile of BMI values. Blood pressurewas measured using the Dinamap monitor. An adapted version of the Weekly Activity Checklist Systolic and diastolic blood pressures were significantly (P<0.05) and positively related to BMI, whereas no signi ficant association were reported between BMI and PAI in both genders. Overall, proportion of subjects with adverse levels of blood pressure (SBP or DBP) ranged from 21,3% in the first BMI quartiles (BMI-1Q) to 30,4% in BMI-4Q (P<0,05). The PAI renged from 24,5% in BMI-1Q to20,6 in BMI-4Q and no significant differences were found. Children and adolescents at "risk of obesity" were 1,5 times as likely to have at least one risk factor (high clood pressure or low level of activity). Conclusions: Our data suggest that higher BMI is associated with higher values of SBP and DBP. Children and adolescents in the upper quartiles of BMI are 1,5 times as likely to have at least one risk factor. Furthermore our data confirmed previous findings that higher levels of BMI are associated with a unfavourable risk profile for CVD risk factors.